Sebastian opened his eyes. All he could see was white. He felt around with his hands; he was lying on something cold. Sebastian quickly pushed himself up and looked around. White. White. White. Everywhere he looked. Suddenly he noticed something that stood out as a different colour to the white floor, walls and sky. A light blue ghost-like figure hovered before him; as Sebastian inspected the figure a little more carefully, he began to make out different features of what now looked like a blue transparent hologram. A beard, a nose, feint arms and legs, and a cloak with the cowl obscuring the top half of its face. The figure almost resembled a man. It spoke quite abruptly.
‘Hello.’
Sebastian jumped back half a meter in freight. The figure continued to speak.
‘It is time for you to begin playing; you have been asleep for a while.’
Sebastian moved his hand forward with his finger out; trying to touch the figure – however his hand phased straight through the phantom’s face, as though Sebastian was trying to touch light itself.
‘Who…Who are you?’ Sebastian asked. Sebastian looked around again frantically, expecting to see someone or something else. But there was nothing around him except white space.
‘I am your game guide,’ said the blue figure.
‘Game guide…is this the game?’
Sebastian tried to cast his mind back – the last thing he remembered was walking through an odd laboratory with his friends Alister, and Sophia. The three of them had each gotten into a very mysterious pod. A helmet had dropped over his face and then…nothing.
‘Where am I? Where have you taken me?’ Sebastian asked gently, surprised at how calm he was.
‘This is the game tutorial. Once you’ve finished the tutorial, you’ll be transported to the actual game; a vast world, with magic and monsters and secrets to be discovered.’
Sebastian looked around again.
‘Is this what was meant by a step above virtual reality. I bet these white screens are super advanced monitors.’
‘Before you begin, you must choose a username.’
A holographic window then popped up in front of him. It had one thing written on it.
Username.
‘What the…’
Sebastian moved his head around. Wherever he looked, the white window stayed visible in the corner of his eye.
‘How do I get rid of this thing?’
‘You can usually close windows by simply telling them to close, or manually pushing the ‘x’ button on the corner of the window. But you must choose your username, so there is no way to close this window until you do.’
‘Are you a real person? Are you the creator of this game?’
‘No,’ the figure said, ‘I’m not a real person. I’m an AI designed to help you learn the mechanics of the game. Before we can move onto other, more important things, you must choose your username. Go ahead.’
‘How do I…ahh…type,’ Sebastian asked.
‘You don’t need to type, you can simply speak. But if you prefer to type, simply double the screen. It might be quite a bit slower though. Whatever method you fancy; I’m not here to judge you.’
Sebastian couldn’t deny, this game was already looking pretty cool.
‘So I can choose any name I like?’
‘As long as another player hasn’t already chosen the name. But as all the beta testers are starting the game at the same time, I would say that it is highly unlikely that someone has already taken the name you fancy.’
‘Okay, no problems,’ Sebastian said tapping on the window in front of him. Sebastian had been brewing up a new gamer tag for a few months now, ever since Sophia said he chose boring names when they played online games together. Now seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a go.
‘Little Aquila,’ Sebastian said in a loud and clear voice.
Sure enough, his username popped up in the little window in front of him.
Little_Aquila.
It had even accounted for the pause in between his words. Sebastian pressed the confirm button and another window popped up in front of him.
Username accepted.
‘Welcome Little Aquila, now you must select your race,’ the AI guide waved a hand, and a mirror appeared in front of Sebastian showing his reflection. Sebastian looked exactly as he looked in real life. Except that instead of wearing the grey suit he’d put on before he entered the pod, or his school uniform, he was dressed like an adventurer. Thick boots, traveller’s pants, a belt, a tunic, and hardy leather fingerless gloves.
‘How the heck did you guys get these clothes onto me,’ Sebastian said, ‘I suppose it’s just an illusion,’ Sebastian concluded before the Guide could answer.
A list of options had appeared on another window in front of him.
Human
Elf
Half-elf
Fae
Umbra
Half-blood
Orc
Sebastian tapped the option for elf.
Another window appeared.
Subrace:
Wood elf
Dark elf
Snow elf
He tapped wood elf.
In the mirror he observes his dark hair turn a shade lighter, and his ears grow pointy.
‘What the…’ Sebastian began patting himself down. The fabric of his clothes felt so real, too real. He ran his fingers through his hair, soft and unnaturally smooth, his face and cheeks had a similar feeling; as though they were somehow separated from reality – and then he felt his ears. This made his heart jump, because his pointy ears weren’t just an illusion. They were his real ears. He could feel them, all the way to the pointy tips, in the same way he could feel any other part of his body.
Sebastians eyes widened as it suddenly dawned on him what was really going on.
‘This isn’t just an illusion – is it…I’m…am I…IN the game? Like a part of it?’
The race window still hovered in front of him; but he could still clearly see the Guide hovering behind it.
‘I am only permitted to reveal certain information to you, about the game. And especially about the outside world. But I am allowed to answer that question. The answer is yes. As of this moment, your actual body is in cryosleep; suspended in time. The creators have developed a technology that connects to your brain and allows you to be in the game. To live in the game.’
Sebastian gasped.
‘This is…so…cool.’
Sebastian was almost inundated with excitement.
‘Would you like to finish selecting your race, Little Aquila?’ the Guide suggested.
Sebastian nodded frantically, trying to keep his emotions in check.
‘Sure!’
Sebastian looked over the list of races again and tried changing to the orc option. His ears and hair returned to normal, but his skin turned light green, and looked as though it had a scaley texture. Sebastian brushed his skin lightly with his fingers. Indeed his skin had gone from being soft and smooth to rough and textured. His eyes had also turned red; but apart from that he still looked exactly the same. Recognisable even.
‘Will I be able to customise my appearance in the game?’ Sebastian asked the AI guide.
‘I cannot reveal that information. You must discover the secrets of the game on your own.’
‘Let me reword that question. Is there any way for me to customise my appearance now. During the tutorial?’
‘Unfortunately not. Depending on your race, you might see slight changes to your appearance, but in general you will not be able to change your appearance beyond recognition.’
Sebastian looked back up at the race window. He tapped the option for the human race. His features went back to normal, and he looked exactly as he had when he had come in.
‘Tell me about the races,’ Sebastian said.
‘The human race, the one you have selected, is an all-round race. They progress five percent quicker in every combat skill. Their racial ability is - ’
‘No don’t go into too much detail. We’ll talk about that later. Just give me a quick run-down.’
‘The humans are all-rounders. Elves are light footed, good for agility, and light weapons such as short swords and bows. The fae are healers, and excel in healing magic. They can also fly when they are in any kind of forest terrain. The umbra’s strength is their stealth. Half-bloods are those who are descendant of humans and angels. They excel in combat magic and defence. Orcs excel with heavy weapons, heavy armour, strength, stamina and attack. Half elves excel in agility and stealth, though their stealth doesn’t match that of the Umbra’s. There’s more to it but that’s a basic rundown – which is what you wanted.’
‘No that’s perfect,’ Sebastian replied.
He quickly selected the elf option – and then the wood elf subrace; his skin turned back to normal, his hair turned a shade lighter and his ears extended until they were pointed.
‘Can I change my race later on?’
‘You can change your race at any time during the tutorial. Unfortunately once you enter the game, you won’t be able to change your race or your username.’
‘Fine, this will do for now,’ Sebastian pressed confirm and the window disappeared.
‘So how long does the beta test go for, anyway?’ Sebastian asked the AI guide.
‘As of now, there is no way leave the game,’ the AI guide said.
‘I’m not looking to leave early. I can stay out pretty late; I’m just wondering how long the beta is running for?’
‘As of now, there is no way leave the game,’ the AI guide repeated.
Sebastian tried to figure out how to re-word his question.
‘Are you telling me that I’m going to be stuck in this game,’ Sebastian laughed.
‘Yes,’ the AI replied, ‘but the creators prefer to say that you’re experiencing the game as it’s meant to be played.’
Sebastian stood frozen.
‘Umm…WHAT?!’
‘You are stuck in the game, but the creators prefer to say that you’re experiencing the game as it’s meant to be played.’
Sebastian put his hand up.
‘No, no, no. I know what you said. But you can’t be serious!’
‘I am not lying,’ the Guide replied.
Sebastian fell back against the cold hard white floor.
‘No. No. This is a joke. This has to be a joke. I have GCSE’s to pass. My parents will freak out.’
‘Your only real option is to move forward Sebastian. I suggest we continue with the tutorial.’
There was a whirlwind of emotions at war within Sebastian right now. Panic; what if what the Guide was telling him was actually true. What would his parents think if he just disappeared. Fear; what would this new world he was entering be like. And another emotion. The strongest emotion that looked as though it was getting ready to overthrow every other emotion. Excitement; this was the kind of adventure he had always craved, it was why he read fiction and played MMORPGs, it was why he wrote stories and played Dungeons and Dragons. He had always wished he could enter a world out of the ordinary, he just never thought it would ever actually happen to him.
‘Another question,’ Sebastian held his hand in the air, ‘how many beta testers have been selected?’
‘You are one of a hundred thousand beta testers selected across the UK.’
‘And are the beta testers the first to enter the game?’
‘The first people to play the game were the Alpha testers. They started four months ago, and only two of them are still playing.’
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
‘The other ninety-eight aren’t playing anymore? That must mean there’s a way out!’
He felt a mixture of relief and disappointment.
‘The other ninety-eight beta testers died,’ the Guide said.
‘I get it now. There are no respawns. It’s survival of the fittest. I suppose I’ll play until I feel like I’ve had a decent run and then get myself a good old classic game over. I don’t mind creating another account if I haven’t made too much progress on this one. Though I doubt I’ll ever be able to afford this kind of game anyway. Not for like fifty years; when maybe the prices have lowered significantly. Or you know – I somehow managed to get rich.’
‘Unfortunately, due to the programming of the game, and the machines that host the game, the death of your in-game character will result in the death of your real-life self. The other ninety-eight beta testers are dead. Two of them are still playing.’
Sebastian rose his eyebrows.
‘What?!’ he said, ‘you can’t be serious?’
‘I’m telling the truth.’
If Sebastian hadn’t been already overwhelmed with emotion about being trapped in a video game; well he definitely was now. He thought about his friends. Were they getting the same news? He wondered how Alister was reacting. Probably jumping for joy; going on about how awesome this was. And Sophia? She was probably in tears.
Suddenly Alister’s words echoed in his head.
I’m expecting you to carry us Seb.
And then he felt determination enter the mix of emotions. He would carry them. If what the Guide said was true – there was a lot at risk. He had to learn this game; he had to get good at it – for them. Sebastian jumped up to his feet.
‘Tell me about the game,’ he said to the Guide.
‘Very well. Well go through the necessary mechanics – but if you have any questions as we go, plus don’t hesitate to ask. There is a structure to the tutorial but it isn’t fixed.’
‘Let’s just start with what you think we should start with.’
‘First open your inventory. You can do that either by opening the menu by pointing in front of you, or simply just by using your voice.’
‘Open inventory,’ Sebastian said. Immediately a screen popped up in front of him showing his inventory. It was empty. The AI guide waved its hand and two sandwiches, a plate of spaghetti and a short sword appeared in his inventory, each with little icons.
‘If you focus on the items, the details of the item will appear.’
Sebastian focused his attention on the short sword. Sure enough, a smaller window popped up next to it that read:
Rusty short sword.
Light weapon.
One handed.
Two damage.
Sebastian looked away from the sword and the window disappeared. He focused his attention on the sandwich.
Ham sandwich.
Restores five HP upon consumption.
‘As you play the game, you’ll have more opportunities to discover further details about in-game items; unfortunately I can’t say any more than this. For now, I’m going to teach you how to consume your items. Add your sandwiches to your quick select menu. You can do this by tapping on the items, and selecting add to quickselect.’
Sebastian tapped the sandwich icon and a menu appeared:
Consume
Offer trade
Drop
Add to quick select
Sebastian added both the sandwiches to his quick select menu, and almost as soon as he did, two small orbs appeared on his belt at his waist, each of them with a sandwich inscribed upon them.
‘Now with your hand, take one of those orbs.’
Sebastian plucked an orb that represented a sandwich from his waist, and as he did so the orb transformed into a sandwich in his hand. One moment his fingertips were brushing against a smooth polished glass ball, and the next moment he could feel the light fluffy bread against his fingertips.
‘Squeeze that item in your hand to consume it. Wait one moment,’ The Guide lifted its finger, and suddenly Sebastians HP bar appeared, and it dropped from 20 HP to 15 HP.
‘Now squeeze the item.’
Sebastian squeezed the sandwich, and as he did so, the bread disintegrated and suddenly his HP restored back to normal.
‘Now theoretically speaking, you don’t need to eat in this game. But the creators thought that players might want the pleasure of being able to eat. If you need to consume a food item in the middle of combat quickly, to restore HP, you can do so in the way that I just showed you. But if you prefer to enjoy your food by eating it normally, you can. The effects will still be the same. Try it with your other sandwich.’
Sebastian reached down to his belt and took the second orb; which transformed into a sandwich in exactly the same way. This time, instead of squeezing it, he bit into the bread, which was soft and warm; the ham tasted fresh and salty, almost better than a sandwich he’d have made in real life. Certainly better than a Tesco sandwich. Sebastian chewed, and chewed, and swallowed, then took another bite and chewed again until the sandwich was completely gone.
‘Oh man that was good.’
‘I’m glad you enjoyed it. Remember, in the game you can eat whatever you like – it won’t have an effect on your health or your figure. Your player avatar will stay exactly as it is no matter how you choose to live. But let’s get on with things, shall we.’
Sebastian nodded.
‘Some food items require certain will only materialise if you meet the required circumstances. Add your spaghetti to your quickselect menu, and try taking it out.’
Sebastian did exactly as the guide asked. The spaghetti appeared as a red orb on his belt; but when he went to take the orb, it didn’t materialise into a plate of spaghetti. Instead a small window appeared in his vision.
Please place item on a steady surface to spawn.
The window appeared for a few seconds and then disappeared. The guide waved a hand and a small brown table appeared in front of Sebastian.
‘Place the spaghetti down.’
Sebastian placed the orb on the surface of the table. It instantly transformed into a plate of spaghetti, and it was so real too. Sebastian could smell the aroma of Italian spices and cooked tomatoes. But it all disappeared when the Guide waved its hand, and the table along with the spaghetti dematerialised.
‘Items like that can still be consumed in the same way you consumed your sandwich by squeezing it. In those cases you simply need to squeeze the items instead. I think that takes care of healing items. Do you need any further clarification, or should we move on?’
‘No, I understand everything. Let’s move on.’
‘Very well then. Now add your sword to your quick select menu.’
Sebastian pulled up his inventory and added his sword to the quickselect menu. The sword appeared on his belt as a small grey orb with a sword icon inside it.
‘Now take the orb.’
Sebastian reached down and grabbed the orb from his belt; almost instantly the sword materialised in his hand. He could feel its weight and the cold steel hilt against his palm.
‘And so it will be with any weapon you add to your quick select menu. If you want to put it back; simply let it go.’
Sebastian did exactly that. He let go of the sword and expected it to fall to the ground. Instead it disappeared and reappeared as an orb upon his belt.
‘And what if you want to drop the sword?’
‘Unfortunately the only way to drop an item is to select the option manually from your inventory. This is to avoid the possibility of players accidentally dropping valuable items. Especially during combat Remember, you have room for ten quick select items upon your belt,’ the Guide told him.
‘Is there a way that I can expand the amount of items I can hold in my quick select menu? Like through quests and perks?’
‘Unfortunately I am only allowed to teach you about the mechanics of the game and am unable to reveal any information about the game itself. This includes locations on the map, abilities, questlines, monster traits among many other things.’
‘Fine. Can you tell me about the capacity of my inventory.’
‘At level one you can hold up to 100kg worth of items. Your inventory capacity will increase if you choose to level up your strength.’
‘Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, what’s the next thing you need to teach me?’
‘The next thing on the list is magic. Open your menu and select either the healing spells or combat spells option.’
Sebastian opened the menu and selected combat spells. There was only one spell listed.
Wind blast.
‘Add the wind blast spell to your quick select menu.’
Sebastian tapped the spell then the tab that said quick select and the wind blast spell appeared as a white orb on his waist next to the shorts word. It had three adjacent lines that curved in a circle at the end, representing the element of wind. Sebastian didn’t wait for the Guide’s instructions. He took the orb with his hand.
As soon as Sebastian touched the orb; his hand began glowing white. The orb itself, however, remained at his side, unlike his sword and the sandwiches.
‘Spells are a little different to other items,’ the Guide explained as if reading his thoughts, ‘they are not physical items. The spells in your spell slot are not consumed and cannot be traded. Try opening your hand and casting a spell on me by throwing your hand forward.’
Sebastian whipped his hand around in a sideways arc towards the Guide. Sure enough, a blast of wind followed in the wake of his hand, though the Guide seemed to be mostly unaffected by the blast. Sebastian did see a number 3 appear above the avatar’s head though, which he assumed represented the damage he had just dealt. A blue bar suddenly appeared in front of him, dropping from full to three quarters full.
‘Spells consume manna. Some spells consume more manna than others. There are multiple ways of learning spells. You can learn them naturally by levelling up; or by studying a spell scroll. Spell scrolls can be obtained in the game, and once you study the scroll, you’ll learn the spell that the scroll holds but the scroll itself will expire. You can learn any spell from a scroll you find regardless of your magic level; however the spell itself may have certain prerequisites. Are you with me so far?’
‘I’m pretty sure that I’m keeping up. How do I increase my manna?’ o
‘There are two kinds of levels, individual skill levels, and overall combat level. Every time you level up your overall combat ability, you’ll be able to increase two of your passive combat abilities. These passive combat abilities are: stealth, agility, perception, endurance, jumping, defence, precision, health and manna. You level up your normal combat abilities simply by using them; but you’ll only gain exp once the enemy is defeated. If you land three hits with a sword on an enemy, when the enemy is defeated, you’ll gain exp towards your light weapon skill, depending on the level of the enemy. If you’re fighting an NPC with another player, the exp will be distributed according to the amount of damage each player did.’
‘It all seems pretty straightforward,’ Sebastian said, ‘Is there anything else I need to know? I’m pretty eager to get started.’
‘You probably should know about PVP and safe zones.’
‘Fine. Tell me then.’
‘Most towns and cities will be in what we call safe zones. Many areas surrounding those towns will also be safe zones. When you leave a safe zone a notification will appear,’ the guide waved one of its hands and a red flashing exclamation mark appeared in front of Sebastian.
Warning: entering PVP zone.
‘When you enter a safe zone, another notification will appear,’ the guide waved its hand; a green exclamation mark appeared.
Entering safe zone.
‘In a PVP zone there is no protection from other players - ’
‘I know what PVP is. Every man for himself.’
‘Yes. Exactly. Be warned that when you are in a player owned house, the player who owns the house has the ability to turn PVP off and on at will: even if it is a house within a safe zone.’
Sebastian nodded.
‘That’s actually pretty important to know. Is there anything? What’s the deal with general activities that there might not be a skill for. Swimming, climbing, running, woodcutting, fishing?
'Ah, actually there is a fishing skill tree. As for all the other things you mentioned; well they’ll draw from your stamina and some from your strength. Why don’t you try one of those activities out.’
Sebastian was a little confused about what the guide meant – but a moment later grass began to materialise beneath Sebastian's shoes, the sky turned blue, mountains grew in the distance and a cool breeze blew past him, rustling his hair. Indeed he appeared to be standing in a large field. He could feel the grass bush up against his ankles, and he could smell the pollen in the air. It seemed as though the scene before him hadn’t finished materialising, because a large cliff face appeared in front of him, a lake opened up behind him and a tree sprouted up from the ground beside him. Next to the tree there appeared to be a bronze axe. He also saw an old fishing rod lying on the sandy shore of the lake.
But Sebastian turned to the cliff instead, and put the palm of his hand against it.
The rock was rough, with many holds he could grab onto.
‘It seems you’re opting to climb the cliff,’ the Guide said, 'just remember though, the harder the climb, the more stamina you'll use.’
It was a fair warning. Sebastian focused his attention back toward the cliff face, grasped onto a firm hold and pulled himself up. He was surprised to find that he didn't feel any of the usual fatigue that he would feel if he had been exercising his body in this way in real life. He began ascending with ease. Suddenly a green bar appeared in the corner of his eye. It was full at first, but it was decreasing steadily. It was obviously his stamina bar. Sebastian kept an eye on his stamina bar as he continued to climb up, but he wasn’t too concerned – the stamina bar was depleting at a slow enough rate that he could climb to a decent height and back down again before it completely ran dry.
Sebastian reached from hold to hold. He pulled himself up until the ground and the Guide were far below him. Sebastian got to a point where he thought it might be best to start descending. His stamina bar was almost a third empty – and Sebastian wanted to play things safe. However he felt his hand gasp a small edge, a near impossible hold on the cliff, just above his head. Of course he could have selected one of the easier holds – but Sebastian wanted to test the strength of his character. He latched his fingers over the tiny cleft on the cliff face - his hand held steadily. He pulled himself up easily enough, but unexpectedly his stamina bar began dropping at an alarming rate.
"Oh no," he said lowering himself, letting go of the hold and moving onto something easier. But it was too late. His stamina bar had dropped well below the halfway mark. He began downclimbing, descending as fast as he could, but descending was much slower than ascending. As his stamina bar lowered further, the edges of his vision began to turn green. Sebastian guessed it was the games way of alerting him that his stamina bar was draining.
Despite being inside a video game – Sebastian still felt the normal emotions that anyone would feel if they were about the fall off a cliff. Fear, panic, desperation. He didn’t know if he even needed to breath in the game, or if it was just a habit, but he felt his heart hammering in his chest and his lungs pick up pace.
His stamina bar dropped below a quarter. An eighth, a tenth, and then his stamina bar depleted completely. He felt his fingers lose their grip and then he was freefalling through the air. It was an odd sensation, he felt his stomach fly up out of his chest, and the cliff seemed to be getting taller and taller as he soared towards the ground. There was a thump, but really only an uncomfortable tingling feeling instead of what should have been blasting pain. What was the more scary though was watching his health bar pop up in front of him and lower all the way until it hit 0.
‘That’s it! It’s over – I’m dead. Before it’s even begun,’ Sebastian said patting himself over, expecting to de-materialise at any moment.
The Guide appeared, standing over him and looking down.
‘Not quite,’ the Guide said, ‘fortunately for you; you can’t die during the tutorial. The creators intended this to be a space for you to get to know how the game works, free of risks. But if you had been in the game - ’
‘I would have died,’ Sebastian finished the sentence.
‘Indeed.’
Sebastian jumped to his feet. Both his health bar and his stamina bar had already fully replenished.
‘I’m guessing my health and stamina won’t regenerate that quick normally either?’ Sebastian asked.
‘Your stamina regenerates quicker than you might think. Your health, however, will not. Naturally; you’ll regain 1HP for every ten minutes that pass. Healing naturally is quite a slow process. Eating and sleeping are the best ways to regain your hit points.’
Sebastian nodded.
‘I’ve got a lot to learn. Especially if I’m going to survive and look after Alister and Sophia.’
‘Unfortunately, there is only so much you are allowed to do here – and also, I take no pleasure in telling you this, but you have less than half an hour left before you’re automatically transported to Elysium.’
‘Elysium? Is that where the game is set?’
‘Indeed.’
‘Less than half an hour…’
‘Rest assured that you’ll be able to call upon my help once you enter the game. But there is only limited information I can give. And you’ll only be able to find me at certain locations. I can help you with the basic mechanics of the game – but everything beyond that, you must discover for yourself.’
The fields and the grass hadn’t disappeared from around him, Sebastian was impressed with how realistic everything was. He could hear birds singing in the distance, and the water in the lake lapping gently upon the shores; he could smell the sweet pollen that emanated from the flowers.
‘Are there people already in the game?’ Sebastian asked.
‘I am unable to answer that question factually. Theoretically there might be. If a player ends a tutorial early then they will be in the game. The likelihood that some players have already entered the game is high.’
‘Which means they’re probably gaining experience and levelling up as we speak.’
The Guide didn’t answer.
‘Half an hour isn’t really enough to learn much; and don’t want to fall too far behind. As long as I don’t take too many risks, I should be okay. I’ll need to start slow. Maybe focus on light weapons and archery. Sir…umm…guide…whatever you’re called, can you give me a full rundown on my race. That seems like essential information.’
‘Certainly. The wood elves are the creatures of the forest. Elves can see in the dark without the need for a source of light. Elves get plus 5 percent to their movement speed. Your archery and light melee weapon skills level up 20 percent quicker. Your subrace ability: whilst in forest areas you are not slowed down by difficult terrain.’
Sebastian lifted his hands up and felt the round pointy tips of his ears. They were odd. Unnatural, yet his ears were as much a part of him as his nose, eyes or mouth. He had always had an affinity for elves.
‘I’ve changed my mind. I’m done here. Take me to the game,’ Sebastian said.
A blue screen popped up in front of him.
You are exiting the tutorial.
Are you sure you want to continue? You won’t be able to return to the tutorial once you do.
Yes / no
Sebastian clicked the box that said yes.
Confirm your details:
Username: Little_aquila
Race: Elf
Subrace: Wood Elf
Confirm these are correct. You will not be able to change them once the game starts.
Confirm / Return to tutorial.
‘I guess I’ll see you in the game. Maybe,’ Sebastian said to the Guide.
‘See you there, Little Aquila.’
Sebastian clicked confirm. As soon as he did everything around him disappeared; he found himself floating through a black and empty void for a few seconds; and then a text appeared in front of him.
Elysium: Novus town.
Then the text disappeared and a cobblestone floor appeared before his boots, walls materialised around him, the voices of people became audible, and he realised he was standing in a large city square, with a fountain in the middle that was packed with people. The square was surrounded by tall, old fashioned cobblestone buildings; and several narrow streets shot out leading to who-knows-where. There were quite a number of people, a mix of players who were running around and calling out frantically, and several people who were clearly NPCs as they strolled around slightly unnaturally - with a greyed-out name tags floating above them.
A green window popped up in the corner of Sebastians eye.
Safe zone.
It flashed for several seconds and then disappeared.
‘Sophia. Alister. Where are you?’ Sebastian whispered.